It’s coming up to mid March and I am pacing the garden in fervent anticipation of the explosion of colour to come in three months time. There are signs of the summer garden. I spotted the very first growth from the delphiniums and so now I am hoping the slugs are not sniffing around. The magpies are having fun in the borders, throwing leaves around and generally sticking their beaks into things, which hopefully includes a few slugs. Of course in anticipating July I am skipping over tulips and forget-me-nots and alliums and irises. So many treats to look forward but for now it is still a bit quiet. Here’s six finds from this week’s garden.
One
One of my favourite spring combinations, the primrose patch sprinkled with a few blue anemones.
Two
The supermarkets are full of trays of nodding fritillaries, here mine are just about to open. Very delicate and I should have more. Impatient I may be but I am going to resist buying pots in flower and will make a large note to self to buy more bulbs later in the year.
Three
In a fit of purity, last year I dug out the hotch potch of daffodils that dotted the garden and determined to have only dwarf tête-à-tête. Of course there is always one that escapes and this is it. Not looking too bad really.
Four
Last year’s bulb planting included a quantity of muscari bulbs and I could not squeeze them all into the gaps in the border. So I planted up the remainder in pots ready to drop into the gaps that suddenly become very apparent in Spring. These in the pots are more advanced then those in border. They have had the benefit of a sunnier corner and drier conditions. Somehow I also seem to have some love-in-mist seedlings. Works for me!
Five
About a month ago I showed the first flowers on the clematis armandii ‘Apple Blossom’. It really does seem to have been a slow month, even now much of the climber is still in bud with the flowers only gradually opening. Why am I impatient with this? Surely this means a longer display? I will develop some mindfulness and enjoy them more.
Six
Here I have kept my impatience in check. The new growth on the hydrangea is surging forward but I haven’t cut back the old flower heads yet. Sneaky nature will surely send a mean frost soon. I’ll wait a little while.
The first seeds have been sown, some tomatoes for the greenhouse, an early sowing of mange tout sown in root trainers in the greenhouse, and a small sowing of rocket and lettuce also in the greenhouse. I’ll find some patience and wait awhile before anything else is sown. The forsythia is out in the front garden so it really is Spring and the growing season is beginning . Mr P hosts #SixOnSaturday with his usual panache. All invited to stop by!
n20gardener 
Your clematis is beautiful, hope you are able to enjoy it for a llong time! I sprinkle the seeds of my fritillaries, started off with just one packet of bulbs many, many years ago and by sprinkling seed each year, I now have a drift, they are now just starting to flower.
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I have a hotch potch of daffies in the garden too which always get flattened. I must go and pull them up whilst I know where they are! Your clematis is very pretty.
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A pretty clematis! Yes I know what you mean about being impatient for more.
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It is the best time of year! Like Rosie I love the clematis, I was recommending an armandii for a client earlier in the week and now I’m thinking this one might suit her perfectly. You have just reminded me, muscari! I will get muscari for next year. 🙂
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Filling up a new garden takes time. I’m on year five and have only just got round to muscari!
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I love the simplicity of common primroses and much prefer them to gaudy coloured primulas.
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Completely agree 🙂
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That is a nice combo, primroses and anemones – I have both but sadly not together! I know what you mean about feeling impatient at this time of year, and it does seem like a slow year for the clematis…Now why haven’t last year’s muscari come up yet for me? Just a mass of leaves at the moment.
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I’m itching to get my seed trays out too and dreaming of the June garden. The clematis is looking lovely and the fritillary too.
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I had a nose around the seed trays at the weekend – full of cobwebs and spiders !
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It’s funny how your fritillaria are ahead while my muscaris are ahead of yours.2 plants , 2 differences. I cut off the hydrangea flower heads yesterday : the spring is coming ! Impatience…
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Decided to leave my hydrangeas another week!
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Every year I end up with single Tulips and Daffodils in the borders then forget to dig them up. Your Fritillary has a bit more colour than mine. I keep looking at the Hydrangeas, wanting to tidy them up but, as you say, there’s bound to be a bit more frost yet.
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That daffodil is going once it has gone over!
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Muscari is still nice. With all the fancy cultivars that are now available, the simple or formerly common sort are still the best. I tried to exterminate mine for many years since 1976, before I realized that I sort of liked them. Then, they died. hmmm. Well, a few reappeared, and are in pots here now, waiting for their next garden.
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I have been warned that they will spread but I’m happy to see them for now.
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Although mine were difficult to ‘kill’, they did not migrate far. They really stayed where they were planted. That was odd, since they initially lived on the edge of a pool deck, and somehow survived after the deck was removed and replaced with lawn. They grew and bloomed right through the turf. Nonetheless, they stayed where they were.
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